Meet Aitch Alberto, Latinx Filmmaker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aitch Alberto.

Aitch, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Movies have always been an obsession of mine. Instead of toys, I begged and cried for trips to Blockbuster. I’d wait around the store for hours until the movie I set my eye on had been returned. As a kid, I’d watch my first birthday or parents’ wedding VHS tape on repeat. Movies have always been my escape, my passion, the fuel of my dreams and mold for my aspirations.

Growing up in Miami, I yearned to connect to a film, movie star or book that made it ok for me to be queer or alternative. Unfortunately, there is still a void of that representation in mainstream media. I aspire to give a face and voice to that lack of representation, to speak the untold and to honor the outcast and ignored.

Has it been a smooth road?
No part of it has come easy, it’s been a painful yet beautiful journey that has required a relentless spirit and borderline delusional confidence. I’m very much still in progress and each success builds towards the next goal.

My childhood is an interesting one, I was a fugitive for most of it, from living in a senior retirement home in high school to being the tipster that lead to the capture of an internationally-wanted rapist, these uniquely surreal experiences serve as inspiration for my work.

The challenges and obstacles are inevitable, but no matter what keep pushing forward. This is something I try to communicate to the young filmmakers I mentor through OutSet: an educational film program from the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Outfest. OutSet empowers LGBTQ youth to share their stories through film.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with you as a filmmaker – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
As a Latinx filmmaker, my goal is to transcend race and sexuality. Audiences are hungry for diversity, but most importantly, for new stories. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my intentions as a storyteller. I am driven to tell stories in the boldest, most compelling, and sensitive way possible. As I’ve grown creatively, I realize the difference I can make with film. It is my duty to celebrate the stories of marginalized individuals while also playing against tropes and stereotypes, specifically of the Latinx community.

I am currently working on the screenplay adaptation of the award-winning, young adult novel, “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Set in the American Southwest in the late 1980s, it’s a coming-of-age story that reveals the special friendship of two Mexican-American teenage boys and their journey of self-discovery. This project encompasses everything I am as an artist and storyteller, so I can’t wait to share more details soon!

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I hate the meter maids. I love the Korean BBQ and my dog, Trip Fontaine.

Contact Info:

• Website: henryalberto.com
• Instagram: @itshenryalberto
• Twitter: @itshenryalberto

Image Credit:
short film “Ode to Abuela”, “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”, Rose Troche at Latino Screenwriting Project, short film “Whittier Boulevard”, feature film “Hara Kiri”, short film “Rubber Duckie”

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